1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gaming machine such as a slot machine, a pachinko-style slot machine, and a pachinko machine.
2. Related Art
With conventional gaming machines (slot machines), upon the player manipulating an operating means (start lever) after the insertion of a predetermined number of units of a gaming medium (coins or the like), a display means (reels or a liquid crystal display device), which displays multiple indicating information on the outer face thereof in the form of multiple lines (e.g., in the form of a 3×3 matrix), enters a scrolling display mode.
Furthermore, such gaming machines provide the following game. That is to say, upon the player operating the start lever, reels or the like are rotated a predetermined number of times (for a predetermined period of time), following which the rotation thereof is stopped. Then, such a gaming machine pays out an amount of coins based upon the combination of the indicating information rearranged along an active pay line provided to the display means that allows the player to recognize the indicating information.
In addition, in recent years, various ideas have been proposed for improving visual effects. For example, an idea has been proposed for the aforementioned gaming machines, in which a hollow container filled with a liquid is provided forward of a lower panel of a cabinet of the slot machine. With such an arrangement, movable members such as simulated aquatic plants, simulated fishes, etc., are provided within the hollow container. Furthermore, a bubble generator is provided to the hollow container, which provides bubbles into the liquid thus stored (see Patent Document 1).
With the gaming machine disclosed in Patent Document 1, the bubble generator provides bubbles in the liquid according to the progress and situations of the game, thereby providing improved visual effects.
However, with the gaming machine disclosed in Patent Document 1, such components are mounted at a different location from that of the display means that allows the player to recognize the changeable indicating information, leading to a problem that such components do not attract much attention from the player. In order to solve this problem, a gaming machine is proposed in which a water tank is provided forward of the display means that allows the player to recognize the indicating information of variable display displayed thereon. Such an arrangement provides improved visual effects, examples of which include bubbles provided within the water tank, visual effects provided by a transparent liquid crystal display device provided between the water tank and the display means, etc. (see Patent Documents 2 and 3).
With the gaming machines disclosed in Patent Documents 2 and 3, the water tank is provided forward of the display means that allows the player to recognize the indicating information of variable display displayed thereon. Such an arrangement allows the player to recognize the indicating information of variable display displayed on the display means while viewing the visual effects provided by the water tank. Thus, such visual effects attract the player's attention.    [Patent Document 1]            Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2001-46583            [Patent Document 2]            Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2005-230190            [Patent Document 3]            Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2006-141634        
However, there is a problem with the gaming machines disclosed in Patent Documents 2 and 3, which have a structure in which the water tank is provided forward of the display means. That is to say, with such an arrangement, the information provided by the display means is thus displayed to the player through the medium of the water tank. In some cases, if something interrupts the player's view, or if there is a large distance between the display means and the player, the player cannot recognize the information displayed by the display means. Such a problem limits the permissible size and shape of the water tank, leading to such a water tank providing only limited visual effects.
The present invention has been made in view of the aforementioned problem. It is an object of the present invention to provide a gaming machine which provides improved visual effects using a water tank, while facilitating the player's ability to visually recognize the information displayed by the display means.